Friday

The Rockford Register Star and rrstar.com launches online news subscription plan Tuesday, March 1, 2011. Here are answers to questions you may have.

Why do I need to pay for content on rrstar.com? Free access to content made rrstar.com the dominant digital deliverer of news in our market. It is not a sustainable business model. Content generation, including staff to report and edit local news, is, along with newsprint, the Register Star’s most costly expense. Paid subscriptions for full-site access will help ensure the newspaper can continue to provide local news.

What can I see for free? Many parts of rrstar.com remain free and will not count toward the 20-article limit. Free access includes most content on the home page, breaking news, obituaries, videos and photo galleries and many of the stories in “Latest News” found on the home page. Real estate, classifieds, help wanted, auto and RockfordWoman.com also do not count toward your limit.

What will I have to pay for? After reading 20 premium stories in 30 days, readers will be asked to pay a subscription for unlimited access to the site. Among the content included in our premium channels are our popular Insight blogs, Top Stories on the home page, prep sports, BusinessRockford.com and Opinions. Breaking news coverage is free. Our enterprise and investigative reporting and exclusive stories are considered premium content.

My whole family reads the paper. Can more than one family member in a household be covered by the online subscription? Families can share a subscription. There will be only one login per customer.

What’s the cost to subscribe to rrstar.com? Seven-day home delivery subscribers pay 95 cents a month. An annual website subscription for seven-day print subscribers is $9.50. For everyone else, monthly access if $7.95 a month, and for a limited time, $59 annually.

The payments are handled by rrstar.com’s partner, Press+, which provides a secure transaction.

How much content can I see without having to pay? You will be able to read 20 premium articles every 30 days before you have to subscribe. Many parts of rrstar.com will remain free and will not count toward your 20-article limit. Free access to news includes most content on the home page, breaking news, obituaries, videos and photo galleries. Real estate, classifieds, help wanted, auto and RockfordWoman.com also do not count toward your limit. Our Insight blogs and columnists count toward the limit.

If I read one story, then go back to check comments on it again, will that count toward the 20-pages of premium content I get to view free? The system is set to remember the last article you viewed from your computer. If you look at one other article and return to the original article, it won’t count toward your 20-article total. However, if you look at a premium article and go to several other articles, the return visit to the original article will count toward the 20 articles you are allowed before having to subscribe for full website access.

Is there a meter on the content on your mobile site? No. The technology isn’t connected to mobile web or mobile apps. You may continue to use our free iPhone and BlackBerry apps, or use m.rrstar.com in your mobile browser without a subscription. We expect to offer mobile apps for smartphones later in March. There is less content on the mobile site than at rrstar.com.

How do I pay to get an online subscription? When you view your second premium article you’ll be asked if you want to subscribe for full website access. You can do so with a credit card through Press+’s secure website. Or you can wait to make the decision to subscribe until you’ve read 20 premium articles. Access is instantaneous upon payment.

How do I subscribe for multiple accounts or without a credit card? You must contact Press+ at customercare@mypressplus.com or call 866-71-PRESS (866-717-7377). Customer Care representatives are available Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. CT.

Why did you choose to allow 12 articles before requiring a paid subscription? We wanted to make sure infrequent visitors to rrstar.com weren’t forced to subscribe immediately. We want people to have the opportunity to sample our news content without having to subscribe. Based on our page view trends, we know that many of our readers will not reach the minimum. We may experiment with the threshold for the number of articles, but for now we are sticking with 12.

I have a questions. Whom do I call? If you want to talk to us or e-mail us your comments, we’ll be happy to answer your questions. You may also post your comments online at rrstar.com. You may contact either: